Simple Genius
by ElspethL
Summary: Kagome, antisocial genius, was always alone. When Inuyasha breaks her carefully constructed bubble, he may find secrets that lead to her dark past.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Ok... my first fic so far, so please bear with me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

_The grand walls of the room were full of books, and a magnificent rug lay on the floor. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, filling the room with a glorious light. Behind a desk, a well-dressed girl sat on an elegant but seemingly comfortable chair._

_This room hardly seemed like a laboratory, let alone a prison._

_The girl's once bright eyes were now blank and emotionless._

_A man dressed in a lab suit entered the room, and he smiled as he saw the young girl._

"_Kagome," he exclaimed, his violet eyes shining with enthusiasm. "Let's start."_

_Violet eyes…of pure malice._

--

"Why do you even have a psychiatrist?" Souta asked his sister. "I mean, why did they send Dr. Suzuki? I think he's afraid of you."

Kagome laughed. Only Souta had seen her smile; to other people, Kagome was glacial. "Truth to say, I don't know," she replied. "You see—"

They were interrupted by a knock.

"I got it," Kagome said, moving towards the door, She looked through the door hole, and stiffened. Slowly, she opened the door.

Instead of Dr. Suzuki, an old, short man, there stood a stylish young girl with short, smooth black hair.

"Yura."

"Kagome," Yura greeted, her eyes glinting. "How are you?" The words were dripping honey: a challenge.

Kagome fixed her blank eyes at Yura, meeting the other girl's gaze. "I'm fine. Please come in."

Yura sniffed and walked into the room, promptly sitting in a chair.

"So, Kagome, I hear you have sleep problems. When did you wake up this morning? When did you sleep?"

"5 o' clock; 11." Kagome saw Souta through the corner of her eye; he seemed unconvinced.

Yura sighed at this, jotting down notes. After asking some questions, she looked at Kagome. "You are getting way too little sleep," she chided. Although Kagome and Yura were on bad terms, Yura was a dedicated expert, and therefore oblivious to everything when it came to doctoring.

Kagome was quiet.

"You really should get more sleep," Yura said. "Kagome, if you don't tell us what happened during… that time, we really can't help you. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Kagome said, looking at the hem of her shirt sullenly.

"It'd be really great if you entered the squad again. I mean, we know how you liked medical studies... We can even send you to Sector 7 if you want to."

Kagome's face turned white. "N...no, that's alright," she said. Yura looked at her suspiciously. "I mean, I've already decided. It's too much work."

Yura sighed, her hostility gone. "Uh, good luck on your first day of school then, Kagome," Yura added awkwardly. She paused, as if expecting the girl to say something.

Silence.

"Uh, thanks, Doctor," Souta suddenly said. "Thanks for coming; see you next time!" He ushered Yura out of the door, glancing at Kagome anxiously. After Yura left, he went over to his big sister. "Really, sis, when did you go to sleep?"

"…Maybe I woke up at four," she admitted. Souta smiled exasperatedly, but still shared a grin with his sister. It was better than last week.

"Please, Kagome, try to get some sleep," he added. Kagome nodded solemnly.

"I'll try to wake up at six tommorow." Her little brother nodded, worried but still satisfied. Kagome smiled at him, knowing that this would make Souta feel better. Truthfully, she had gotten a little more than two hours of sleep. If Souta or anyone were to know that her condition had actually worsened, Kagome would have more therapy. So it was better if nobody knew.

Souta returned the grin, glad that she was feeling, or at least acting happier. After all, the death of both of their parents had hit them hard, and although Kagome had somehow found a way to earn enough money to survive, she had become antisocial; an island unto herself. Plus, there was that time when she disappeared…

The bus came, ending Souta's thoughts.

--

Kagome noticed that the people in the grade were all probably about one or two years older than her; that was expected.

"Class, this is Kagome Higurashi, and she will be joining us in Math class," the teacher droned. Kagome made her mind blank, and slowly, her eyes turned devoid of all emotion.

No contact; no talking. The drill was too familiar.

"…Kagome is, as you see, younger than all of you. She was supposed to be in the Senior classes, but there were too many people, so she was…"

Kagome pondered the sentence. Hopefully, she might be seen as a nerd, and therefore be classified as untouchable.

Waiting for the teacher to finish her speech, Kagome observed the class closely, while pretending to look outside. The people in the class were all pretty plain; other than a few good-looking people, the rest of the people looked quite simple.

A boy that especially attracted Kagome's attention sat in the front row. He had long, flowing silver hair that was tied in a ponytail, and his golden orbs were set in a smooth but boyish face. He was the only person who looked as bored as Kagome did. Fascinated by the strange appearance, Kagome stared at the boy, momentarily forgetting the drill.

Suddenly, the boy turned his eyes to stare back at Kagome. Cursing herself for her stupidity, Kagome looked away. Still, from the corner of her eye, she saw the boy smirk, and a wave of annoyance washed over her.

"Kagome, why don't you sit in front of Inuyasha; that boy with white hair?"

The girl mutely obeyed. As she sat in front of Inuyasha, he sneered at her.

"Genius, huh?" he said, eyes glittering with malice.

Kagome ignored him, her eyes glued to the black board. Still, the boy continued to pester her, poking her back with a pencil and pulling her hair.

"Nerd."

There was no reply.

"Wench. Why won't you talk?" Still no answer.

"Think you're too good to talk, _genius?_" Finally, the girl turned her head to face him.

_Gotcha. _Inuyasha was about to cram his hand full of eraser leftovers into Kagome's face, but he stopped.

Chocolate colored pools of brown stared at him, her face too close to his. An unbelievable tiredness covered the girl's eyes, and her eyelashes were considerably long and thick. Inuyasha backed away frantically, heart beating slightly.

"You want to be a genius?" she asked. "It comes with danger, little boy, danger that you—"

"Kagome, do you know the answer to this problem?" the teacher asked sternly. Kagome's eyes lost their emotion, and she answered the question effortlessly after turning to face the teacher.

--

"What was she talking about?" Inuyasha asked Miroku, his best friend and lunch companion. "Why doesn't she want to be a genius?"

Miroku shrugged and bit into his sandwich. "Ask Sango; she's beautiful, athletic, _and _smart!" He looked at Sango, hoping for forgiveness for his latest action. Sango scoffed, sending Miroku a death glare.

"What's so bad about being a genius?"

"Well, if you ask me, Inuyasha," Sango replied absentmindedly, eating her apple, "You seem pretty interested in Kagome." Sango looked over to the girl outside, who was quietly eating her lunch in a tree. The tree was a perfect hiding place; practically no one could see the Kagome. Then again, no one was really as observant as Sango. Besides, Sango had always wanted to have lunch in that tree; Miroku and Inuyasha thought it was too sissy, so Sango never went there.

Inuyasha's face got ugly. "What?! I am _not _interested in that antisocial nerd!"

Miroku shrugged. "I don't know about you, but I think that she's pretty cute," He looked nervously at Sango, who was still staring outside. "What has she done to you anyways?"

Inuyasha grunted. _It comes with danger._ What was that supposed to mean? It wasn't as if she had actually been through real danger or anything; she was just a stupid girl. No one really cared about her… _It comes with danger, little boy—_ Inuyasha growled at his milk, earning strange looks from his friends. She was probably just trying to confuse him; that's all.

"Inuyasha, are you ok?" Miroku asked. Inuyasha then realized that he was saying his "thoughts" aloud.

"Yes, I'm alright!" he snarled at Miroku, who backed away.

"Sango, save me," Miroku then cried, flinging his arms towards Sango, who slapped him hard in the face.

--


	2. Chapter 2

The next day came, and Sango watched Kagome, who was, coincidentally, in all of her classes, carefully until lunch, when she noticed Kagome buy some school lunch and head out to the big tree

Kagome couldn't sleep.

She wouldn't.

If she fell asleep, the nightmares would haunt her. Dreams of genocide and disasters awakened her in the middle of the night whenever she got caught off guard and started to nap. Kagome tried to shake the painful memories away, but she couldn't. It was etched into her brain, like all the other memoirs of the past life that she wanted to forget. But she couldn't think of those things, or they would never leave her be.

Mostly, she had dreams of the laboratory and the experiments. Some of them were okay, just little snippets of that life. But the rest were all too realistic to forget.

Life was hard enough without some familiar-looking, pompous boy that was in her biology class. What did he have against her? Kagome yawned as she bombarded herself with questions, and then suddenly started, horrified.

A yawn made such a big difference.

Kagome was asleep before she could stop herself.

_A small and peaceful village stood in the midst of flowers and happy villagers. As Kagome walked through the village, an old woman beckoned for her to come over. Kagome obeyed, and the old woman showed Kagome a map. _

"_Kagome," the old woman smiled, "You must summon it, for the map lives in you." She smiled again. _

"_What are you talking about?" Kagome asked. "I don't understand…"_

_The old woman did nothing, continued to smile. Suddenly, a small house exploded behind them, and screams were heard throughout the village. The old woman was still unmoving, her smile frozen. _

"_Hello? HELLO?!" Kagome suddenly found herself screaming at the old lady, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. "Talk! Say something!" Kagome stopped as a nearby house burst into flames. She pushed the old lady gently, and the woman fell down to the floor. _

_Kagome shuddered at the icy coldness of the woman's skin. She turned around and walked away, out of the village, but not before she saw two violet eyes gleaming at her in the distance. _

--

The next day came, and Sango watched Kagome, who was in about four of her classes, carefully until lunch. She noticed Kagome buy some school lunch and head out to the huge oak im a corner of the courtyard.

"Guys," Sango said to Inuyasha and Miroku after she bought her lunch, "I'm going to eat outside in that big tree, okay?"

"Sure, whatever," Inuyasha said, all the while making a mental note to check the 'big tree'.

"Sango, are you implying something?" Miroku asked innocently. "Do you want me to come too?"

Sango sighed as she rapped Miroku on the head sharply. "I'm just going to meet Kagome, the new girl." Not waiting to hear the boys' responses, she went off.

--

Kagome took out a silver toothpick, one that she kept with her at all times, and put it in the school food. After seeing no change in the stick, she placed it in her pocket and started to eat.

"Mind if I join?"

Kagome turned her head to see a friendly-looking girl that seemed to be in all of her classes. Kagome hesitated for a while, but nodded. She would be quiet the whole time, and eventually, the other girl would probably leave.

The girl was already halfway up the tree, and seeing Kagome's small nod, she climbed the rest of the way up expertly and smiled at Kagome.

"My name's Sango," the girl said, picking a sturdy, smooth branch to sit on. "I'm friends with Inuyasha." Kagome raised an eyebrow, but Sango, apparently, didn't see the expression, for she continued. "He's a nutcase, you know. Jealous because you're smarter than him or something… Don't mind him."

Sango looked at Kagome, who seemed uninterested. She sighed mentally, but continued to talk about unimportant things. Hopefully, talking about random things would work…

Kagome ate her food quietly, not really paying attention to Sango's ranting. Sango was probably just another gossipy, boring girl… In fact, the other girl would probably—

Sango suddenly stopped and said, "You know, your drawings are pretty cool. I've seen you doodle in math class. The village that you drew was quite cozy-looking."

Kagome grimaced. The small rural town from her dreams did, indeed, look "cozy"… before it was destroyed.

Sango smiled hesitantly at Kagome, as if considering something, then continued quietly. "And it looked exactly like my grandma's village." The girl trailed off, her eyes dulling.

"Before it got destroyed?" Kagome found herself whispering, a feeling of dread welling up in the pit of her stomach.

Sango looked at her in surprise. "How did you know?" _It was just a small village; not very well known to the media._

"I don't know," Kagome said quietly. "Just guessed."

Sango raised her eyebrows, a movement very similar to Kagome's. She looked at Kagome for a while, and then, seeing that the girl made no movement, continued to eat her lunch. The two girls spent the rest of the lunch period in silence.

--

The bus stopped, and Souta and Kagome got off.

"So, there's going to be this charity dance, and our class was picking representatives," Souta said to Kagome, his face flushing from excitement. "and _I _got picked!"

"Wow, Souta; you got picked as a class representative after your second day in school?" Kagome murmured as their house came into view, "That's really impressive." Souta nodded, his face all smiles. "Oh, wait a sec," Kagome fumbled in her backpack for the keys.

"Here we are." There was a soft click, and Kagome went in the house. Souta followed, thinking. If he were to go to the charity dance, Kagome would have to go too, since a family member had to accompany him.

He suddenly bumped into Kagome, who was frozen in the doorway.

"Whoa," Souta breathed as he peeked at the living room. A few suspicious looking people were standing in the living room, set with black sunglasses and tuxedoes. They looked exactly like the sort of people you would see in a _James Bond _movie. A few of the big men even had buzz cuts, although most of the men had normal hair.

Kagome stared at the people in black, and pulled Souta behind herself protectively.

"Hello. You are trespassing private property," Kagome said, her voice tight. "Please leave."

"Kagome, don't be so rigid," a voice said. The huge bulky men moved aside to reveal a man, who was smiling brightly. The light reflecting off his sharp, pearly whites almost blinded Kagome; she had always thought that this was some kind of emergency tactic to ward off enemies.

"Long time no see."

Kagome looked at the man warily. "Hello, boss," she said in a more relaxed voice, her grip on Souta not loosened. "What today?"

Kagome's boss smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, Kagome, but we need your help on something. I know that you may still be suspicious, but only you can do this job."

"No."

The man raised his hand. "Don't be so hurried. There's still the reward." Kagome feigned slapping a fly. "We need you to go to the Fountain of Youth and get a cup of water."

Kagome forced a smile that looked surprisingly normal. "The Fountain is a legend, boss. It doesn't exist."

Her boss smiled back. "Or does it?" He pulled out some papers. "Kikyo Nakagawa seemed to stay the same age for 20 years. She frowned and smiled constantly, which is supposed to cause wrinkles, and she never put on makeup. When she turned 40, she still looked half her age. When we made her stay in her house for a month, she started aging: not a lot, but still pretty obviously. "

Kagome looked bored. "And why exactly do _I _have to find this fountain?"

"You look exactly like Kikyo, Kagome," the boss said solemnly. "If you go to the Fountain of Youth, you might be accepted. We want you to try the fountain out."

"What's the catch?"

The boss sighed. "All of the other agents that we have sent have disappeared." Kagome smiled grimly, her expression saying, "_As expected."_ Her boss looked apologetic, and then smiled in a way that he clearly thought was reassuring.

"You don't need to go to school anymore if you take this job; we will also send you money to buy food every week. We will never call you again, and we will do our best to help you with anything that you want." The boss looked at Kagome gravely. "If there is anyone that you want gone, we will help you." Kagome smiled, her head cocked in thought.

"Plus, your little brother will be properly cared for." The boss left the last sentence unsaid. _If you don't return._

Kagome sighed as she looked at Souta, who was shaking his head rapidly, . She then looked at her boss, who was inspecting the carpet, as if guilty. Kagome smiled slowly as she shook her head.

Her boss sighed too. "I know; it's a dangerous job. We won't force you, Kagome." He turned to leave, and his bodyguards followed him like pet dogs.

Kagome smiled at the back of her boss and said the three words that would change her life.

"I'll do it."

**A/N**: …I don't know; this chapter seems kinda cliché to me… It was also written weirdly. But still, the only thing I'm really worried about is whether or not 'I'll' counts as only one word. Still, R&R!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hehe... I'm back with a new chapter... -dodges rotten tomatoes- Sorry I didn't update in a long time; I was _kinda_ busy... Anyways, according to some resources, Inuyasha's father is called Touga. I'm not really sure if that really is his name, but since this is the modern world, I can't say 'Inu no Taisho', and Mr. Takahashi is too long... Stuff. So he's called Touga now.

"I got it," Inuyasha called as the butler walked towards the door. "Don't tire yourself too much, old man."

Inuyasha opened the door. In front of him stood a handsome man with long, wavy hair tied back in a ponytail. The man had strange-colored eyes; they were a stately but ominous violet. The man's clothes smelt crisp and clean, but he himself seemed to have s sweet, sickly stench that nearly caused Inuyasha to puke.

"Who are you?" Inuyasha asked, holding his breath so as not to breath in the disgusting odour. Now he felt slightly dizzy.

"You're Takahashi Inuyasha, huh?" the man asked, ignoring Inuyasha's question. "I am your father's business partner." The man then examined Inuyasha. "You don't look very much like your father, do you? In fact, you actually look so much like your mother," Seeing Inuyasha's shocked face, he added, "I saw her portrait on your father's desk."

"Uh, sure," Inuyasha said hesitantly. "People say that."

Once again, the man ignored him. "She does have a pretty face; no wonder your father fell for her. I heard that she came from the slums, though…" The man scrutinized Inuyasha again. "You seem to have inherited her eyes."

"Will you stop ignoring me, old man?" Inuyasha yelled. "You'd think business people have more respect for others..."

The man stopped, and looked Inuyasha dead in the eye. "Well, where _is _your mother?" Inuyasha's eyes narrowed, and he stumbled back a few steps.

"She's dead," he said after a while. "Long dead."

"Oh my goodness, please forgive me for bringing up such a painful topic; I am _so_ sorry," the man said, looking very much like he was, indeed, sorry. But he slipped a little, and his eyes showed a triumphant glint.

"Anyways…you must have been so terrified in the beginning, once you knew that your dear mother was forever lost. How did it feel, Inuyasha? Did you cry for days, or did you keep your anguish locked up in that little box hidden somewhere in your heart?" The man took out a small pad and pencil, and stared at Inuyasha maliciously. "I don't know about you, but I—"

"Why are you doing this?" Inuyasha interrupted through gritted teeth. He suddenly felt resentment and a strong urge to sock this man in the face.

"Because I study the human brain," the man said, leaning closer to Inuyasha. "I'm especially interested in pain and sorrow, anger and bitterness." He jotted down some things on his pad. "And you're a great subject to study."

"Doctor Ohira!" Inuyasha's father, Takahashi Touga, suddenly appeared from the kitchen. "Welcome, please come this way."

Doctor Ohira took one last sneering look at Inuyasha, and then followed Toga to his office.

--

It was very late when the doctor left.

Touga sighed when he came out of his office. Beckoning the butler to leave, he lit a cigarette as he sat down in a big armchair in the living room. Inuyasha sat across him, not saying anything.

"Still not asleep, Inuyasha?"

"No. I was just thinking." The boy was quiet as he struggled to put his thoughts into words. "Who was that guy? He—" Inuyasha tried again. "I-I don't like him." _I hate him. _

Touga breathed out, exhaling large grey clouds of smoke. "I don't either, son. But he _is _an important person in the market and in the government, and I am a business man. Making deals with Doctor Ohira will help my company. I've checked his background; there isn't a lot of information about him, but he has a clean slate." Touga was silent. "In fact, Doctor Ohira is hosting the charity dance with me. I'm sure he's not one of those sneaky criminals." Now, Touga seemed to be talking more to himself than to Inuyasha. "Yes, I'm sure he's a fine, upright man."

Inuyasha was quiet as Touga tried to reassure himself that Ohira was trustworthy.

"What's his name, dad?"

"Huh? What's that?" Toga said absent-mindedly, lighting another cigarette. "Oh. He's Doctor Ohira. Ohira…"

"Naraku!"

Kagome woke up in cold sweat, trying to stifle the scream that threatened to escape her throat.

"Oh my gosh," she panted, "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh…"

Another nightmare. Except for this time, it was about _him. _Kagome clenched her hand into a fist, and her fingernails dug deep into her own skin. Willing herself to calm down, she shut her eyes and lied down, closing her eyes but not sleeping for the rest of the night.

--

"So… how's your family, Kagome?" Sango asked. It was her seventh day having lunch with Kagome, and Kagome was slowly opening up. Still, she didn't talk that much.. Lunch was almost over, and she had barely even spoken a paragraph.

"All dead," Kagome replied. "'Cept for Souta, my little brother."

Sango gasped. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," she said. "I didn't know…"

Kagome shook her head. "Doesn't matter. I can't really remember them anyways."

Sango hesitated. _Who's your guardian then?_ She left the question unasked.

"Um, Inuyasha's mom died when he was young, too," Sango said, trying to make more conversation. "She was a really pretty and nice lady, you know, the kind that bakes cookies and apple pie every Sunday. But it's strange; Inuyasha didn't shed a tear when Izayoi died; not that he didn't love her, because he did. And he used to be a crybaby, too." Sango smiled brightly. "I used to like to beat him up all the time."

Kagome smiled one of her rare smiles. "Inuyasha, a crybaby? Interesting."

"Is anyone talking bad about me?"

The voice that spoke was loud, obnoxious, and familiar. Inuyasha and Miroku poked their heads from under the branches.

"What're you two doing here?" Sango asked, acting surprised but secretly satisfied. She knew, of course, that the two boys would, sooner or later, follow her to the tree. "Go away. Kagome and I were having a wonderful talk about girl stuff. Intruders will be persecuted," she added.

"Would you really kill me if you had to?" Miroku asked with a straight face.

"Huh? Of course," Sango said, looking away, causing Kagome to raise an eyebrow.

"What're you doing here?" Inuyasha suddenly asked, looking at Kagome resentfully.

"If you don't want to look at me, get lost, mutt," Kagome said curtly, suddenly caught up in the playful atmosphere. Before she could react to what she had just done, Inuyasha jumped in her face.

"Me? A _mutt_?!" Inuyasha growled.

"I'm not the one whose name means 'dog demon'," Kagome pointed out. "But it's okay; your name is pretty enough."

"I don't want a _pretty_ name," Inuyasha said, seeming horrified at the mere thought. "I—"

"Whatever," Sango said, brushing Inuyasha aside. "Are you going to the charity dance, Kagome? It's tommorow, you know. I'm going with my little brother, Kohaku."

"I need to drive my brother Souta there."

"How about you, Inuyasha?"

"Keh, I'm probably going too," Inuyasha lolled down comfortably on a particularly wide branch. "My dad's hosting the charity dance with his business partner. He's forcing me to go. I don't have anything better to do, anyways."

"I was planning on going way before this talk," Miroku said brightly. "Girls are suckers for charity dances."

This time, it was not Sango, but Kagome who said, "Pervert,", gaining surprised glances from the rest of the group.

"Anyways, who's this almighty business partner's name?" Sango asked. Her father was also a business man, and she was usually on the lookout for important people that might be able to do business with her father.

"Ohi—"

Suddenly, the bell rang, stopping Inuyasha in mid-sentence.

"I'll tell you later," he said to Sango, jumping off the tree with Miroku. "Bye for now."

Sango rolled her eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Doctor Ohira Naraku paced back and forth through his laboratory, stopping once in a while to shout at the three assassins standing in a neat row in front of him. As Naraku stopped again, the three men cringed and withdrew, neither one daring to look him in the eye.

"One year," Naraku said as he stopped pacing, his voice dangerously low. "I give you _one year_ to find my escaped test subject, and you girls couldn't even find her? She's only fifteen years old: a mere freshman!"

"She's a genius, though," one man, Burt, muttered under his breath. But as soon as he spoke, he regretted his words immediately; they might as well been the last words he uttered. Naraku walked over and looked up at Burt; although he was small compared to the man, his evident control over everything seemed to make him look stronger.

Suddenly, the burly hit-man collapsed to the floor. Bleeding furiously, he clutched his wound painfully as he struggled to stand. Thick red liquid streamed out of a large gash in his chest, and a drop of blood trickled out from the corner of his mouth, sliding down until it joined the scarlet mess on the man's upper body. Burt moaned and stuffed his fist into the wound, trying to stop the blood from pouring out. His two acquaintances shifted uncomfortably, but did nothing to help him in fear of having the same fate.

Naraku exercised his fingers, which were now coated with a layer of steel and razor-sharp spikes. They were dripping with blood. Burt's blood.

"I don't care if she's a genius," Naraku said calmly, walking away. "You have one week to find Agent Higurashi or I will dispose of you."

The door closed.

The remaining two hit-men released huge sighs as Naraku walked away, and both looked at Burt, who was lying down on the floor. The slash in Burt's chest was an inch away from the heart, but still, it was deep, and therefore fatal. Burt should've been dead by now. But no, now the wound on his chest was pulsing and bubbling, looking very much like it was infested by leeches; it was a truly grotesque sight. The tissues and cells were regenerating rapidly, thanks to the pill that Naraku had given Burt ages before.

Ohira Naraku was a dangerous, cruel man; half crazed from obsession of science, he specialized in the study of the brain, but also knew a lot about regeneration. He was a genius, no doubt, albeit one not quite right in the head. Still, it wasn't that surprising for him to be involved in a charity dance, because he was quite important in the government and the market.

In a few minutes, the hit-man's wound was fully healed, and all that was left on his skin was a raw, salmon-colored scar, which would forever remind him of what had happened.

--

Saturday had finally come.

"Come on, Kagome!" Souta hollered. He was dressed in a small tuxedo, and had a flower tucked neatly in his jacket pocket. "We're gonna be late!"

"I know; coming!" Kagome yelled back. She slid down the staircase banister expertly, dressed in a dark blue dress with thin, gossamer sleeves, which were now slightly ruffled.

The siblings hurried into Kagome's car and drove off, slightly panicked.

There was a silence in the car as Kagome leaned back in her seat to catch her breath. She didn't notice Souta hesitating behind her. After a long while of stillness, Souta finally cleared his throat.

"Um, sis, I've never seen that dress before," he said, bowing his head uncomfortably; that was what he always did when he lied. Actually, he _had _seen the expensive-looking dress once or twice before. Just before the rumours about the death of a Russian Mafia leader started, Kagome had slipped out of the house in the middle of the night in the dress. Souta thought it extremely suspicious, but when he talked about her sneaking out of the house, Kagome got really white and refused to speak. So Souta never talked about that stuff ever again.

"Uh-huh," Kagome answered absent-mindedly. Of course Souta had never seen the dress before. It was hidden in the secret compartment behind her closet, and she used it only on special occasions. "I bought it a few days ago for the dance."

Souta frowned. Why was his sister lying to him?

"Anyways, are you excited about the dance?"

"Of course," Souta beamed, momentarily distracted. After all, Kagome didn't seem to be trying to change the topic. "You?"

_I don't know, I'll probably break the antisocial guise I've been working so hard on, I might have too much fun than necessary, and I'll have to endure the endless droning of that idiot Inuyasha._ "Sure."

Soon, the two were at a fancy, expensive-looking hotel that had a huge sign at the door:

**CHARITY DANCE**

Kagome and Souta entered the hotel, and after showing their tickets, they were directed to a huge ball room.

The ballroom was slightly crowded, but Kagome found Sango with little difficulty, for she was waving her hands rapidly in Kagome's direction, an excited expression on her face. Kagome hurried over. She didn't know when she had gotten so used to Sango, Miroku, and maybe even Inuyasha's presence…

Inuyasha had seen Kagome way before Sango had noticed her. Kagome was looking around for them, and, although he hated to admit it, she looked beautiful. The dress, which seemed to be customized specially for Kagome, fit her body perfectly, accentuating her perfect curves and adding a mysterious aura.

She seemed to be a goddess, dignified and grand.

"Kagome, you look great!" Sango said enthusiastically, interrupting Inuyasha's thoughts and making him look away. Sango was dressed in a fairly simple black dress, her hair let down and flowing down her back. Although her costume was pretty plain, she looked impressive.

"You too," Kagome replied honestly. She turned to the boys, who were both standing awkwardly in tuxedoes. They both looked uncomfortable, especially Inuyasha, who was stiff and seemingly hot from the jacket. His hair was in a ponytail, like always, but it was neater, and Kagome felt slightly weird as Inuyasha's golden eyes bored into her own.

"Whatcha looking at, wench?" Inuyasha snapped, trying to hide his unnaturalness. Kagome raised an eyebrow, and Inuyasha winced as he realized that it made her look prettier, smarter. He could slap himself for thinking like Miroku.

"Oh, I see I have a new nickname," Kagome said dryly. "Anyways, I was just wondering what an oversized penguin was doing in Inuyasha's place." She could see Inuyasha's face turn ugly. He opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a magnified voice blaring from the speakers.

"Attention, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming here."

Kagome froze.

She heard that silky tone only in her nightmares; the last time she had actually heard it, she was trapped and being t—

"I am Doctor Ohira Naraku," the voice continued. It _was_ him! Kagome's knees buckled, but she managed to keep standing by clutching the nearest person's shoulder.

Inuyasha stiffened when he heard Naraku's voice; he hated it so much: it sounded too manipulative, too silky. A hand suddenly gripped his shoulder; he could feel the nails digging into his skin.

"What are—" Inuyasha stopped in mid-sentence as he saw Kagome's face. She was as white as a ghost, and her eyes were huge, stricken with terror.

"I-I'm sorry," Kagome mumbled, taking her shaking hand off Inuyasha's shoulder. She stumbled as she walked away. "Excuse me."

Inuyasha looked at Kagome, who was walking shakily but briskly away. "'Scuse me," he said to Miroku, and ran off after Kagome. Miroku showed Sango a knowing smile, and Sango slapped him before grinning back.

They had no idea what was really happening.

--

Kagome stumbled into the janitor's closet and promptly sat down. What was _he_ doing here? Actually, she should've suspected something the moment she went in the fancy hotel. But her senses were probably dimmed after a year of not… sleuthing. Plus, she was actually excited, and thus distracted. Another thought dawned on Kagome—the dress! Naraku knew that this particular dress was designed for her; did he see it when he was up there talking?

"You alright?" Inuyasha asked as he opened the door. Kagome looked at him, startled, but still smiled weakly.

"Yes, I'm fine," she said, standing up. "It's nothing; when I was young, I had a heart-attack, and sometimes I find that it's hard to breathe; it's nothing." Those were all lies, of course; Kagome had never had any problem with her heart. She could see that Inuyasha looked more relaxed now; he was still sceptical, though.

"Are you sure that you're okay?" Inuyasha asked slowly, looking into Kagome's eyes. Hopefully, the phrase 'Eyes never lie' was right.

Kagome returned the stare; she was good at this. "Ye—" She was about to say, but the sound of soft footsteps suddenly echoed through the halls.

"_Kagome, you can run, and you can hide, but you can't escape."_

_Thump._ The footstep sounds were louder now.

_You can't escape. _

Kagome melted to the floor.

Without moment's hesitation, Inuyasha picked the girl up. Kagome's body was very light, and in his arms, she seemed unusually small and frail. Suddenly, Inuyasha was aware of the faint smell of leather wafting from Kagome's body, the crystal beads of sweat on her forehead.

"Where to?"

"The garden, somewhere nobody goes anymore. Away from the lobby." Kagome closed her eyes, and her long, thick eyelashes fluttered slightly.

Inuyasha sprinted towards the garden, and the two spent the rest of the time in silence.

The garden was huge, quiet, bushy. The bushes and trees were tall and made good hiding places, Kagome observed. Everyone in the hotel was in the ballroom, so the garden seemed lonely and abandoned: the perfect place to rest.

Inuyasha set Kagome down on a bench and sat next to the girl, who was slowly regaining colour. Kagome's face was still pale, but her eyes now seemed more relaxed, and her breathing was slower.

"What happened?" Inuyasha asked quietly after observing the girl. "It seems like you're running away from something. Somebody." Kagome looked at him in surprise. She had originally thought Inuyasha an ignorant, naive imbecile, although a handsome one. Now, he seemed actually intelligent

Kagome looked at the cracked pavement on the ground. Should she tell him? _Thump._ He seemed like a good person, actually. _Thump._ After all, he did take her to the garden. _Thump._

What? Diving into the tall bushes, Kagome called, "Someone's coming!" She slid through the plants and was suddenly gone. Or so it seemed. Because she was trained to hide her prescence among leaves and plants, Kagome would have no problem avoiding _him_. She could make herself invisible and completely silent in the bushes. There was no way he could find her.

The footsteps came closer and closer, until they finally stopped.

"Hello, Inuyasha, Kagome," Naraku said. "Missed me?"

--

Inuyasha tensed, but tried to act more relaxed. He was actually good at doing that; it was something that you had to do when meeting Dad's important business partners all the time.

"Hello, Doctor Ohira," Inuyasha said lightly. "How are you?"

Naraku smiled. "I'm fine, Inuyasha. But I was wondering."

"Please speak." Inuyasha gave his most polite smile.

"Ah," Naraku said, looking amused. "Before I say anything, I need you to know that helping someone you barely know will not help you."

"I don't know what you mean," Inuyasha said stiffly. He, of course, still disliked Naraku extremely because of what had happened some days ago.

"I want to know where Kagome is." Naraku smiled expectantly.

_ I knew it, _Inuyasha thought. But he said,"Who's Kagome?"

The man in front of him laughed. "Ah, you're playing dumb, aren't you? But I want to know where Kagome lives and works, and I want to know now."

"I really don't know who this Kagome person is," Inuyasha said, feigning some anger. "Is this some joke of some sort?"

Naraku's smile vanished. "Cut the crap, Mr. Takahashi. I know that Kagome is here somewhere, but I can't get her; she has the advantage. Help me find her, or you'll have hell to pay."

Inuyasha sucked in some cold air. The atmosphere had suddenly tensed enormously, and he could almost feel the frost surrounding him, threatening to swallow him whole. Naraku's cold eyes bored into his own, and he felt like dozens of small bugs were blocking his nose, mouth, suffocating him. Inuyasha could still hear the bushes that Kagome was hiding in rustle once in a while, but now, they were silent as death.

"I don't know who you're talking about, Naraku," he said stiffly. "And I don't enjoy being threatened, either. If you don't mind, please leave."

Naraku stared at Inuyasha for a long time, his gaze unwavering. Suddenly, he burst into laughter. "Well, you actually thought I was serious? Higurashi Kagome was my dear friend; she helped me a lot in my research." Naraku's eyes twinkled. "Yes, she was very helpful in my research. I was just bored, and I decided to play with your mind." Naraku smiled and waved as he turned to leave. "Good-bye, Inuyasha, enjoy the refreshments."

Inuyasha heaved a sigh as Naraku's shadowy figure disappeared, not even bothering to decipher the message Naraku had added in his talking. He turned to the bushes. "Hey, you can come out now," he said, crouching down and beckoning Kagome out. There was a small rustle in the bushes, and Kagome's hand poked out of the bushes, holding out a small squirrel and stuffing it in Inuyasha's hands.

"What the heck are you doing?" Inuyasha furrowed his brow as he dangled the squirrel from one hand. "What is _this_?" Inuyasha pointed to the squirrel in rage. He did not really like forest creatures, especially not _cute _forest creatures. A squirrel had bitten him when he was young, and he had hated any sort of forest creature for ages.

"I see." A voice came from behind Inuyasha; and he spun around immediately.

Naraku was standing behind Inuyasha, his face stony. He turned slowly to Inuyasha, his mouth set in a tight line. "I was just checking to see if I had left anything here," Naraku said slowly, as if he were forcing the words from between his teeth. "It seems that nothing was left back here." Naraku's eyes were dull and unforgiving as he looked at Inuyasha, but this time he said nothing.

The silence was long, and life in the garden could be heard clearly. Grasshoppers chirped noisily, and unknown animals rustled the bushes. There were also faint noises from the ballroom, but they were just murmurs.

"Anyhow, I will be going," Naraku said, and left in silence.

Inuyasha stared at his hand. The squirrel had escaped his clutches a long time ago. How in the world did Kagome catch a squirrel in the bushes? And how did she know that Naraku would be here a second time?

"You can really come out now," Inuyasha said as he stuck his head in the bushes and brought Kagome's limp body out of the leaves. It seemed that she fainted from exhaustion or something.

"Girls," he muttered as he placed Kagome on the bench. "So weak." He felt Kagome's forehead. Her skin was cold, very cold, so it couldn't be a fever, and her breathing was unnatural; it sounded machine-like, almost mechanic. Something was desperately wrong.

"Hey, you alright?" Inuyasha asked, shaking Kagome. The girl didn't answer. Inuyasha shook Kagome more, but she did not wake up.

He looked at the girl. Like always, her features were delicate, but they seemed to be missing the hard stubbornness that he noticed she had. Everything about her seemed the same, but her skin was pale and sickly. What was happening to her?

"Hello, Kagome, I see you've finally come out." a voice suddenly said. Inuyasha looked up in panic, and his eyes met the cruel, triumphant eyes of Naraku.

* * *

A/N: This chapter is longer than the others, as you can tell… I'm making it up for you guys cuz I think that the ending is kinda stiff. There's some weird, messed up goriness in the beginning, and I'm new to it, so if it sounds awkward, I'm sorry. But hey, I gotta make people suffer, or else it won't be a good story. And I'm sorry that it's kinda a cliffy… you guys probably don't like them, but I do.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN**: I don't usually check my email, and when I do, I see all this story-alerting... What's wrong with you people? You read and don't give reviews?! I need support! ...Just kidding. It's alright if you don't leave reviews; I'm happy that people are actually reading it... And, yes, It is sort of angsty, isn't it? Hehe. Sorry, but I do like certain types of angst.

Anyways, this chapter came out quick cuz it was fun to write, and also because basically _nothing _happens; just mental battles, small snippets of jealousy and fluff, some itty bit of romance, etc. etc. Sorry if you don't like that, but it's like a break for Kagome. Well, Kagome's boss appears here, and you'll probably guess who he is half-way.

Enough blabbering. Enjoy!

* * *

"Hello, Kagome, I see you've finally come out," a voice suddenly said. Inuyasha looked up in panic, and his eyes met the cruel, triumphant eyes of Naraku.

Before Inuyasha had any time to say anything, Naraku ran, with amazing speed, to Kagome and picked her up, keeping his hand at Kagome's neck, feeling her pulse while her head rolled limply to the left. He felt Kagome's pulse, not even bothering to look at Inuyasha, who was running over.

Seeing his chance, Inuyasha snatched Kagome away from Naraku. "What do you think you're doing?" he shouted at Naraku, whose brow was furrowed. "She fainted because she doesn't want to be near you. Just leave her alone." It was the biggest speech he had ever spoken for a girl, Inuyasha realized. He looked at Naraku in worry; the older man looked in deep thought.

Suddenly, realization seemed to dawn on Naraku, and his expression changed to disbelief, then anger. He closed his eyes and swore viciously.

"You don't have to hold her so closely to you," Naraku said, smiling coldly, and Inuyasha loosened his grip on Kagome, his face warmer than usual. "Anyways, you can keep her." Naraku's voice was bitter. "I am not interested in Kaede's dolls."

Seeing Inuyasha's confused expression, the man chuckled darkly. "The hag Kaede, master puppeteer, creator of dolls; don't you know her? The dolls that she makes are lifelike; they can breathe and have heart beats; in fact, they are usually used as decoys. If you don't believe me, look behind 'Kagome's' neck. There is a small red button there that makes her breathe. If you push it, the doll in your arms will wilt and become lifeless."

Inuyasha felt for Kagome's neck, and felt something round and circular. He pushed it, and the Kagome in his arms suddenly stopped breathing, stopped moving. In surprise, he dropped Kagome, or rather, Kaede's doll, who fell heavily to the floor.

"You mean this isn't Ka-Kathy?" he asked, remembering to change Kagome's name at the last minute. "Uh, I think that this 'Kagome' that you're talking about is Kathy. Kathy's the new kid in the karate place I work in. She came to this dance before saying that she had to move. Again." Naraku looked interested, so Inuyasha continued lying. "She moves a lot."

Naraku's eyes narrowed slightly, but then he looked normal, like the charitable gentleman he always looked like in front of others. "I see. Thank you, Inuyasha, you've been a great help." He smiled again, and this time, it lacked the coldness that it just had a while ago. "I'll see you later, in the lobby."

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Inuyasha said awkwardly.

Naraku waved and left.

--

Kagome bounced in the man's arms.

After she had sensed something wrong and handed a squirrel that had been coincidentally on the ground—too coincidentally, now that she thought back—to Inuyasha, she was suddenly picked up by someone. The man was obviously well trained in stealth and silence, for he made almost no noise as he ran through the leaves all the while carrying her.

"Who are you?" Kagome whispered, trying not to make more sound than necessary.

A familiar voice replied, "Ah, you've never been in my arms, so of course you wouldn't know who I am."

Kagome frowned. "Boss?"

She looked at her benefactor, and raised an eyebrow. She could faintly make out her boss's familiar features with help of the pale moonlight.

"Boss, what are you doing here?" Kagome asked warily. She jumped out of her boss's arms deftly, despite his protests.

After a sigh, the man answered. "I'm saving you, Kagome, what does it look like I'm doing?" her boss laughed. He, for one, did not lower his voice. "Naraku's back there. You don't want him to find you." Kagome stiffened, but her boss didn't notice. He shook his head. "Guy's nuts. The only reason we can't check his stupid experiments is because he's too important to the government, to us. Too sly."

There was a silence, but Kagome's boss never kept quiet long.

"Anyways, Kagome, who was the guy over there? The guy with long white hair? Why was he carrying you?" Boss frowned. "You've never let me carry you; not even in the most drastic situations. Last time, when we were against the Russian dude, you were bleeding all over, but you insisted on walking back yourself. Didn't let anyone touch you. Hell, you looked like you were gonna bite us when we got near you then." Boss was now obviously displeased. "Why did you let him carry you, Kagome?"

Kagome sighed. Boss always had random, weird thoughts when he was not happy.

"Kagome, did he force you to let him carry you?" Boss suddenly growled in a very Inuyasha-like manner. She suddenly noticed that Boss and Inuyasha actually had very similar personalities.

"No… I was just tired. Anyways, he could never beat me in a spar, let alone force me to do anything." Kagome said, smiling in spite of herself. "I was tired, so I let him carry me to the garden. Dancing is arduous work."

Boss was unconvinced.

"You never dance," he muttered. Then: "Trying to steal you away? I'll sock him if he gets near you." Boss was now talking more to himself than to Kagome.

Kagome sighed. Same old, same old.

The two emerged from the bushes, and arrived somewhere in the hotel far from the lobby.

"You better change some clothes, Kagome," Boss said, after straightening his suit. He stared at Kagome, causing the girl to look away. "Wow, I forgot how good you looked in that dress. But I thought it was used only for… business purposes. You should change, though, or else someone might recognize you." _Naraku might recognize you._

There was another silence. "Uh, I brought an extra dress," Boss said uncomfortably. Kagome stared at him, and he shifted. "I had a hunch something like this would happen," he said lamely, and took out a small suitcase. "There is a dress and a make-up kit in there. I don't think Naraku will still be here, since that white-haired freak made him go away, but we had better take precautions."

Kagome looked at her boss disapprovingly. "Inuyasha's not a freak," she said. Her boss shrugged, and she sighed as she headed back into the hotel with her boss. "How will I find you?"

Boss grinned wolfishly. "Just ask for The genius; Mr. Ikeda. My eleventh most common alias. But I'll try to find you, too." Kagome smiled back, feeling glad that a friend was nearby.

"Sure," she said, and went to the restroom to change.

--

"I wonder where Kagome and Inuyasha went," Sango said, frowning. The two had been gone for a while now; Sango had already finished some small cakes and 6 cups of juice.

"Oh man, they sure do spend a long time kissing," Miroku said, slouching on a comfy chair next to Sango. "I wish we could do that…" Sango's eyes blazed, and she kicked Miroku in the face, causing him and his chair to fall to the left, and many people to stare.

"I'm so sorry," Sango tried to explain to the people looking their way. "He's an idiot, you know…"

"What did you mean by kissing?" two voices said in unison. Kagome and Inuyasha stood behind Sango and Miroku, and they looked surprised as they saw each other. In fact, no one noticed that Kagome had changed a dress.

"What were you doing then?" Miroku asked, grinning.

"I… I was having some fresh air outside. It's too stuffy here," Inuyasha said. He grinned as Kagome glared at him for taking the perfect (though cliché) excuse.

"I—" Kagome began, but a voice finished for her.

"She was visiting an old friend," someone said. The speaker was about Inuyasha's age, but slightly older, dressed in a very expensive and smart tuxedo, and he placed his arm around Kagome's shoulder comfortably. Kagome laughed nervously.

"Uh, yeah. That." Her friends looked baffled, and Inuyasha's face was distorted with disbelief and some other expression…

"Um, allow me to introduce you guys to the boy genius of Japan, Mr. Ikeda. We've known each other for a while." Kagome hurried with the rest of the introductions, and as she got to Inuyasha, Boss smirked, his eyes challenging.

"So. You're Takahashi Inuyasha." Boss said, suddenly unsmiling. He squeezed Kagome to his chest rather hardly, slightly suffocating her with his strong grip. "What makes you think you can steal my woman?"

Inuyasha's eyes bulged as he stared at both the boss and Kagome; he seemed too shocked to speak. Miroku and Sango had the same expressions, but Miroku's mouth was actually hanging open, and he was close to stammering nonsense.

"What the heck?!" Kagome almost shouted, and she covered her boss's mouth. "Don't listen to him; he's just babbling…" Kagome gave a huge smile showing all her teeth, which seemed extremely out of character, considering she was usually expressionless and antisocial. "Mr. Ikeda is slightly—no, he's actually a very confused man, and he says that about every female he knows." More nervous laughter. Kagome patted her boss hardly on the back, actually close to socking him. Her hits were pretty strong, for her boss winced painfully.

"I am so sorry that he put those sort of thoughts in your head; he's actually just a friend. A regular friend. And," Kagome said, glaring at her boss, "he will stay a friend if he _shuts his mouth._" Kagome's friends gaped even more; the quiet, unsociable Kagome was actually threatening someone?

"Uh, yeah, we're just regular friends," Kagome's boss said painfully, rubbing his back in regret. "Sorry. Sorry about that."

"So… Mr. _Ikeda_." Inuyasha said, stepping forward to examine Kagome's boss, who accepted the inspection with approval. "How long have you known Kagome?"

Boss showed his signature wolfish grin. "Ages." He stepped forward, until his forehead was almost butting Inuyasha's. "Longer than you have."

"Bo-Mr. Ikeda," Kagome coughed. Her boss looked at her sheepishly, and she rolled her eyes. "Uh, excuse me for a while." Kagome sighed and went to the far end of the ballroom, behind a Corinthian column, and rested. She could faintly hear a voice say, "Attention, ladies and gentlemen, it is time for the dance."

And indeed it was. The people in the ballroom were getting their partners; "May I have this dance, Ms. Sango?" Miroku asked Sango, bowing down to kiss her hand. Inuyasha watched as Sango blushed, but this time, she didn't slap him, and took his hand.

The stupid "Mr. Ikeda" was gone, now that Kagome was not here. That slimy little parasite. Inuyasha scanned the ballroom, and spotted Kagome behind a huge clubbish thing. A pillar. He took a deep breath and walked over.

Kagome had switched a dress. It was strange; well, not really, considering what had happened in the garden. She still looked good, though. Gorgeous.

Inuyasha coughed, and Kagome looked up at him. Kagome could tell that he wanted to look away, but Inuyasha still looked Kagome directly in the eyes. "Uh, may I have this dance, Ms. Higurashi?" he asked, bowing down lowly. Kagome smiled, and nodded.

"Yes," she said, and took Inuyasha's hand. They ventured out into the middle of the ballroom, where most of the people were. Kagome saw her boss through the corner of the eye; he was dancing with a random girl, and was obviously searching for her. Kagome sighed and led Inuyasha over to a place further away from her boss; she didn't want the boss to start blabbering again.

Inuyasha danced pretty well, in fact, he was an expert at it.

"I never knew you could dance so well," she murmured, looking up at Inuyasha. He shrugged, and she found herself thinking about his mesmerizing golden orbs. Inuyasha's features were quite manly, quite handsome, but she usually thought of him as an imbecile, so although she knew Inuyasha looked above average, she didn't really realize that he actually had killer looks. Better than Boss's, even.

Inuyasha found Kagome staring at him, and he returned the gaze. Kagome had applied some slight make up (where'd she get it?), and she looked even better than usual.

"You dance pretty well yourself," Inuyasha replied. The two went around in silence for a while, and then:

"Um, I'm really just regular friends with Mr. Ikeda," Kagome suddenly said. "Really. I mean, I've known him for a long time, but…" Kagome trailed off.

"I see." Inuyasha said. He paused for a moment. Suddenly remembering something, he added, "Uh, by the way, there was a Kaede's doll in your place. I have no idea how it got there or how you got away."

Kagome's eyes widened. "Gramma Kaede's doll?" She looked thoughtful for a while, and then nodded. By then, the music had already faded.

"Thanks again," Kagome said, "But I gotta go." She left, and headed towards her boss, who was still looking for her.

"Kagome! Where were you this whole time?" Boss asked. "I was looking for you the whole dance!"

Kagome shrugged. "Deal with it."

Kagome looked thoughtful. "Um, boss, the Kaede doll…" She trailed off, not finishing her sentence, and her boss waved his hand carelessly.

"I put it there," he said sketchily. "Thought you might've needed it." Kagome was quiet, but her boss suddenly yelped. "I have a really important meeting! Kagome, I really wanted to dance with you, but I have to go to this stupid meeting. I'll catch ya later."

As her boss turned to leave, Kagome stopped him. "Thank you, boss," she said.

Her boss looked at her in surprise, and then grinned. "No problem. To thank me, maybe you can be my girlfriend."

"No, not this crap again!" Kagome barked at her boss. "In your dreams," she then muttered, punching her boss on his shoulder lightly. Boss laughed, and turned to leave, but then stopped again.

"By the way, you should really call me by my real name. Do we really have to be so formal around each other?" He winked, and left.

Kagome stood in place for a while, watching her boss leave. His tuxedo was now sort of ripped in the back because of the bushes, and it was also slightly ruffled. There goes a few thousand dollars. Of government money. Boss's dark brown ponytail was messy because of the bushes, too, and he seemed much more boyish than he actually was. He was probably going to mess up the "important" meeting that he was going to. Kagome almost laughed at the thought.

"Thank you," she whispered, and then smiled. "Kouga."

**AN**: HAHAHA! Who saw that coming (I mean the fact that Kouga is the boss) before this chapter? I finished the chapter kinda hurriedly; as you can see, it ends too quickly. Sorry about that. Anyways, R&R!


	6. Chapter 6

It was Monday

**A/N**: As you can probably see, I have changed the Action/Adventure into General, because really, this isn't mainly Action/Adventure. It has some other stuff too.

Um, and my editor greenee16 is forcing me to praise her and give her a lavish thanks including the words 'greenee16 your almighty majestic-ness aka majesty' and 'your humble and loyal minion Elspeth L'... I'm not going to do that, but I thank greenee16 and also all of the reviewers and readers, too for your support.

Ya, I have made Inuyasha and Kagome fall for each other too quickly, haven't I? Sorry; I'll change it. Also, I'm surprised that not many guessed that Kouga is the boss before, but it might just be that my ideas are just so brilliant that you pathetic mortals will never guess anything! MUAHAHA—Just kidding.

* * *

It was Monday.

Kagome didn't go to school that day.

Inuyasha sighed mentally as he pretended to be listening to the teacher's droning. Saturday seemed like a strange adventure now that he was back in school.

"Class dismissed," the teacher said as the bell rang. "Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, please stay."

Inuyasha pretended not to care as eyes turned to stare at him, and he saw Sango and Miroku through the corner of his eye; they both looked confused too.

Soon after, the teacher shooed the rest of the students away, and only the three students and the teacher were left in the room.

No one spoke for a while as the teacher organized papers.

"Excuse me, but why do we have to stay?" Sango finally asked the teacher, ringing her fingers. "I kinda need to go to my other classes, you know… Are we in trouble?" Looking anxiously at her friends, Sango said, "I mean, I understand if Inuyasha and/or Miroku got into trouble, but I usually mind my own business, and if Inuyasha or Miroku blamed me for something, I didn't do it."

The teacher smiled, and then shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry, Sango, but I don't really know. All I can tell you is that these people in black that looked like they came from some action movie-" At this, Sango hid a grin. "-came to the school today and talked to the principal. She told me to tell you three to stay for a talk with them." The teacher tried to look reassuring. "I'm sure you'll be okay."

"Thanks," Sango replied, although still worried.

She walked to the boys. "Okay now, spit it out, what did you do? Miroku, did you do anything…improper to some rich, snobby girl, who called the police?"

Miroku looked offended. "I wouldn't go that far," he said, and grinned. "Actually—"

Before he could say anything perverted, the door opened, and three men in black appeared, along with the principal. The three men were lined in a neat row, and the one in the middle had a briefcase, and seemed to be the head.

"Hello," the head of the men sat down at the teacher's desk and took out some files. The two other men lined up beside him, each with their hands behind their backs. Talk about cliché, Sango thought with a snort.

"Please, line up in front," the leader said stiffly.

Sango, Inuyasha, and Miroku exchanged glances and obeyed, but all took chairs and sat down in front of the three men. The leader looked appalled. Even so, he recollected his composure, and cleared his throat.

"I have heard that you three are associated with Higurashi Kagome?" The man in the middle asked in a very business-like manner.

Inuyasha's eyes turned slightly wider; what did these people have to do with Kagome? They were obviously not her friends… Could they be in league with Naraku? He looked at Miroku and Sango, who also looked back. Very vaguely, Inuyasha shook his head, and Miroku and Sango nodded slightly back. They were silent.

Seeing that no one was speaking, the man in the middle furrowed his brow, obviously struggling against something. Finally, he sighed and said, "I need to talk to each of you individually." He scanned the three people. "Let's start with the boy with the white hair."

The teachers, Sango, and Miroku went out of the room, leaving only Inuyasha and the three men. The leader leaned forward.

"Hello, young man," The man said in a tone that he clearly thought sounded friendly and pleasant, "We need information on Higurashi Kagome. I hear that you three associated with her the most? Do not be afraid, and talk without holding back. We need your help."

Inuyasha was quiet, and then smirked. "In that case, I guess I can say anything I want."

The leader looked slightly excited for a while. "Yes, yes, speak!" Then, as a hasty afterthought, he added, "Child, we can not do this… without your help."

Inuyasha snorted.

"First of all, you had better stop trying to act _kind_ and _warm_; it just doesn't suit you. In fact, you're doing a very bad job at it, so you can stop before I start to retch out my insides." The man had obviously had never met this sort of situation before and was looking shocked; his two cronies glanced at each other in confusion.

"Man, the 'I-understand-you' crap that you read on the books-" At this, the man fingered his briefcase uncomfortably. "-about making kids trust you is not gonna work on us," Inuyasha said, walking over to the leader and draping his hand over the man's shoulder. "I mean, get real. Do I look that stupid?"

Inuyasha then looked at the two lackeys, one of which was putting his hand into his pocket very slowly. That was bad.

"About Higurashi Kagome," Inuyasha continued, and the man's eyes lighted a bit, "we know her; Sango even tried to befriend her. But she's antisocial, so she never really talked to Sango. Or anyone. But still, a few days ago, Higurashi told Sango that she was moving."

Inuyasha returned to his seat. "I don't know much about the girl; she's only been here for a week or so, but she's really weird." he said. "I'll tell you if we have news of her."

The leader thought for a while. "Of course, thank you." He nodded to his two lackeys, and they took Inuyasha out of the room.

"Next," the man said.

--

Kagome sat down in the tavern and ordered some whiskey. The old man at the bar table didn't seem at the least surprised that a girl so young was there on a weekday; in fact, he grinned at Kagome.

"Skipping school, youngin'?" he asked, sliding a cup to Kagome.

"Hm," Kagome murmured. "You could say that." She gulped down the whiskey and sighed in comfort as the hot liquor ran through her bloodstream.

Scanning the room, Kagome saw brutes and civilized-looking people alike; there were also some other high-schoolers. No one really seemed to look suspicious, and although there were some thugs looking at her lustily, they didn't seem to be of any problem.

"You're not supposed to be here, girl," a voice said beside her. Kagome looked in the direction of the voice; the speaker was a tall man with sunglasses. Even though that was mostly all she could see of him, Kagome felt a strange familiarity with the man.

"I know," Kagome replied, shaking away her thoughts. "At least it's better than being at school."

"Oh, really?" the voice said. It was so familiar. Who did it belong to? Kagome scrutinized the face again, but it was hidden in the shadows, and the only thing that Kagome could see of the face were the man's lips, which were thin and pale. As Kagome examined the man again, she noticed his casual but expensive clothes but couldn't really see his hair because of the cursed darkness of the tavern.

"You're skipping school _and _drinking at such a young age; don't you have any morals?" the man asked.

"Well, that's none of your business, is it?" Kagome asked, taking another gulp of her whiskey, all the while wondering why the man didn't ask her the question that came along with 'don't you have any morals': What about your parents?

The man almost smiled, and said, "No, it isn't."

The two drank in silence.

"Well," Kagome said suddenly, "I'll tell you why I can't go back to school. My enemies are probably searching the school for me, and if I go to school, I'll return to a pitiful life of captivity." She half-smiled at how absurd her story seemed. "And that is why I am skipping school. Forever, maybe."

Kagome smiled again. "But then again, it's your choice whether or not to believe such a crazy story."

The man next to Kagome was silent for a long time, and by the time both he and Kagome had finished their drinks, he had still not spoken.

"Don't you know," he finally said, "that you're not supposed to tell all your secrets to a stranger?"

The man looked at Kagome, allowing her a view of his face. Kagome glanced at the man, and her eyes turned wide; no wonder he had seemed so familiar!

As Kagome stared at him, the man gave a slight nod.

"Good to see you again, Higurashi."

--

"Ohmygosh! I am so, like, late for my, like, _classes_," Sango said, still adapting a Valley Girl tone. It was tiring, though amusing to act like some bubble-headed idiot and see the leader's face twist into some weird expression.

"Are you, like, _sure_ that this whole interview thing won't, like, mess up my perfect attendance?" she asked for the 23rd time, and sniggered mentally as the man in front of her grinded his teeth.

"Yes, young lady, I am perfectly sure. Now, can you tell us more information about Higurashi Kagome?"

"Well, Kagome was, like, really quiet, you see, so even if you wanted me to, like, get information from her, I wouldn't be able to, like, help you guys a lot." Sango said, twirling some loose hair. "Let's see, I know that her parents are, like, dead, and that she has no other family members—"

The man stopped Sango. "Wait a second, young lady. According to our resources, Kagome has a little brother; Souta, is it?"

Inuyasha's words rang in Sango's ears: _Don't tell them anything about Kagome._ "No, no, you're, like mistaken, guys," she said. "Kagome told me herself that she, like, is an only child. She says that sometimes she gets a random kid to pretend to be her brother, since, like, she gets lonely." Sango nodded. "Yes, she's, like, a poor kid. OHMYGOSH!!" She suddenly screamed, causing the man in front of her to jump.

"Do you remember anything else? Her whereabouts?" the man urged, excited.

"My nail, like, broke!" Sango wailed. She did all she could to keep a straight face when the man's face got distorted with rage.

"_Next,_" he wheezed.

Sango went out the door and gave Miroku and Inuyasha a high-five, and returned to her classes.

The leader examined the next arrival: an honest-looking boy with his hair tied back in a small ponytail; he looked promising. For a while.

"You want to know about Kagome, don't you?" Miroku asked seriously. The man in front of him nodded, and prepared to write.

Miroku put on a cheerful face. "Well, when Higurashi Kagome came to our class, my first reaction was: whoa! 'Cause Kagome is really cute; not hot, you see, because I don't really use hot that much. Actually, I use it sometimes, but not all the time, you know, I have different definitions of hot and cute."

"Young ma—" The man started.

"I mean, I can call a girl cute, hot, beautiful, or pretty, and they all have different definitions," Miroku continued. "I'm telling you this because you seem a lot like a guy who doesn't have a girlfriend. And in your current state, you are in dire need of help from an expert." Miroku flashed a grin. "Like me."

"Higura—" The man was about to say, but stopped short at Miroku's last sentence.

"I mean, look at you, you're like what, sixty? That hairstyle is _not_ gonna attract girls." Miroku shook his head.

"Young ma-" The leader attempted to talk again, but was cut short as Miroku sighed.

"Oh, well. You don't seem to be understanding. It dismays me that there are still people in this world who don't know how to appreciate persons of the opposite sex. Anyways, let's not talk about that; you probably wouldn't understand; why should I waste my time on you? I'll just tell you about all the girls I knew before. I didn't really know—"

"Young man, do you know where Higurashi Kagome used to live?" The leader finished a sentence, only by speaking rapidly fast. Miroku looked at him in interest.

"Wow, you talk fast, old man, I mean sir." he said before continuing on to his own topic. "Anyways, I haven't met a lot of cute girls in my life; there was Mandy, who would have been really cute if she didn't have buckteeth , and there was also Kareen, who was cute, but not as much as Kagome. Not even close." Miroku continued talking, not even bothering to glance at the leader.

The leader was now fuming, and that was not hard to tell. An hour with Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku when they were in their trickster moods was sure to make a grownup crack.

"But then again, there was that other girl that I knew before, and she was almost as cute as Kagome," Miroku said, his legs now crossed and on top of the desk. "Almost. The population of cute girls is dwindling, and there aren't as many as there were before," he sighed. "Kagome is two years younger than us all, and she is one of the rare ones there are left. Of course, there's Sango—"

Miroku continued his droning, and the leader gripped his briefcase in frustration. Calm down, he told himself, resisting the urge to take out his gun and just kill the junior.

"Excuse me, young man, but does this have anything to do with our topic?" he said through gritted teeth. The boy looked at him in surprise, as if he just noticed that there were other people in the room.

"Why, yes, of course, I'm talking about Kagome," he said. "But if you want to know her whereabouts, information about her, I have no idea. Because all I know about Kagome is that she is way cute. Have I said that before? If not, I'll emphasize the fac—"

"Okay, okay," the man said, but Miroku continued talking.

"OKAY!" the leader shouted, standing up and banging his fists on the table. Miroku and the two other lackeys looked at the leader in alarm.

"Chill," Miroku said. "I get the point. Uh, should I leave?"

_I've had enough of you! _The leader shrieked in his brain as he organized the files in front of him huffily, acting very much unlike the calm agent he was. "Yes. Thank you for your time." Without a word, he hurried away with his two lackeys as fast as he could.

"Sheesh," Miroku said, scratching his head while grinning. "You'd think someone with such formal clothes would have the decency to say 'bye'."

School ended, and Inuyasha walked over to the principal's office. As expected, the principal and her secretary were gone, and only the three men were left in the office.

Inuyasha opened the door just enough to be able to see the three men.

"Those idiots barely gave us any information," one man said, clenching his hand into a fist.

"All we know is that Boss gave us false info; Higurashi doesn't have any other family members." Another of the lackeys said.

"Why should we even believe the three brats we questioned today?" This time the leader spoke, and it was obvious he was still in a foul mood. "They seemed as if they were trying to hide information from us. We need to find Higurashi before the time limit's up, or else we'll be dead," he muttered darkly.

"That man Naraku is crazy," a man half-whispered, and Inuyasha tensed. "Did you see hear what he did to Burt?" The three men were quiet and solemn now, all bowing their heads in thought.

"What's so important about this girl, anyways?" one man suddenly asked. "Why are we risking our lives to kidnap her?" Immediately, the two other men looked at the guy tensely, and shushed him with sharp glares. Inuyasha started, but made no noise.

"Are you out of your mind?" the leader hissed. "We are not to say our mission out loud, fool!" He looked around in panic, and finally, assured that no one was eavesdropping, lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Burt told me that this Higurashi girl is one of Naraku's many test subjects. No, idiot, of course she's a human! Naraku wants her so bad because she used to be very important for the government." Inuyasha's eyes widened. He had thought that Higurashi was important, but he didn't know that she worked for the government. Inuyasha leaned closer to the door.

"You see, according to the snippets of information we have, I have concluded that Higurashi is actually a very dangerous criminal." The leader stopped for dramatic effect. His lackeys leaned in, eager for more information.

Inuyasha paled, and leaned on the door…

"Besides this, she-"

..

The men whirled around, their faces alert, their guns already out.

"Who's there!"

--

"Elite Sesshoumaru?" Kagome gasped, not even bothering to hide her surprise as she looked at her past associate; her boss's boss, actually: one of the elites, the top agents in the organization. The man had silver hair, very similar to Inuyasha's, and cold, calculating eyes. His face had three red stripe marks—no one knew why they were there, but most thought that they were just a strange birthmark.

"What're you doing here? I thought you were in the head capital, on one of your never-ending business trips."

"I was," the man replied. "But I decided to come back after a report from Kouga."

"B-Boss? What did he tell you?"

Sesshoumaru looked straight into Kagome's eyes. "He told me basically what you just said when you thought that I was a random stranger."

Kagome's eyes lowered. "Oh. That."

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. "You should've reported that sort of thing to your boss immediately," he said. "Don't tell me that you thought you could handle it by yourself; you're not that great."

Kagome opened her mouth to talk, but thought against it as Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow.

"You are really too careless, Higurashi. What were you thinking when you told me about your problems?" He leaned forward. "What if I were actually one of your enemy's spies?"

Kagome was quiet; she knew that all of her excuses would be dismissed by Sesshoumaru. He was a good person, actually, and although he acted cold and superior to others, he was kind of nice to Kagome. Still, he _was_ one of the seven elites, and was as lawful as they get.

"Anyways," Sesshoumaru said. "Your house is not safe. Naraku's spies are everywhere, and soon, they will find the place you live."

Kagome's eyes widened. "How did you know that Naraku—"

Sesshoumaru looked at Kagome coldly. "Do not underestimate me, Higurashi. There is a reason why I am in the Elite."

Kagome nodded. "Souta is not in the house; I would not put him where he could run away at any time. In fact, he is in this tavern, in the kitchen. I helped someone in my career before, and that person works in this bar. Not coincidentally, of course; I came here because I knew that she works here. This tavern has ,in fact, been one of my hiding places before. The person I just mentioned is taking care of Souta right now."

Sesshoumaru nodded in approval, and Kagome continued. "But where should I stay? Hotels and motels are too easy to track," she said, looking up at the elite.

"Yes; that is exactly why you will live at my house," Sesshoumaru replied.

* * *

A/N: Sesshoumaru was always one of my favourite characters, so I'm adding him in! I've decided to give him a cooler position, and for those who wonder why he talks a lot: he's nice to Kagome, but usually acts superior to others. I'll write it like that, so don't complain.

I am also pretty aware that Kagome is _way_ below the drinking age; too bad! She's going to drink stuff, ok? And for those that don't know what a Valley Girl is, they're the people that talk in that fake-cheery voice and say 'like' every three words or so.

Oh, and also, as a bonus, I'll tell you this: Kagome only knows Sesshoumaru as Elite Sesshoumaru; she doesn't know his last name, or the fact that he's Inuyasha's brother. Got any thoughts?

R&R!


	7. Chapter 7

The men whirled around, their faces alert, their guns already out.

"Who's there!"

Inuyasha bolted out of the teacher's office and ran swiftly through the corridor, not daring to look back. As he turned a corner, he could hear loud, heavy footsteps behind him. Inuyasha ran into a room and crouched down low under a desk on the far side of the room

The footsteps stopped and Inuyasha could almost see the three men look around.

"Where is he?" a man said in low voice.

"I'll search the garden, you can search the classrooms in this hall, and you can search the classrooms in the senior halls. Later on, we'll join and search all the other places," the leader's voice was hushed.

Most of the footstep noises got softer eventually, but Inuyasha still crouched as low as he could. Suddenly, two hands grabbed hold of his neck and pulled him in the closet behind him. Inuyasha punched the assaulter hard in the face, and groped for the door knob of the closet, preparing to make his escape.

"Ow..." Miroku winced, rubbing his jaw painfully. "I save you, and _this_ what I get in return?" Sango, who was standing next to Miroku, rolled her eyes.

"You're a pathetic excuse for a man, Miroku." Sango sighed.

"It doesn't matter as long as Sango still loves me…" Miroku sidled closer to Sango. "Sango, dear! Kiss it, and it'll feel better." He gestured hopefully towards his slightly bruised jaw.

Sango reddened. "Shut up or I'll castrate you!" she shouted, smacking Miroku firmly.

"So, why are you two here?" Inuyasha asked. He was used to his friends' behaviour.

Sango turned her attention to Inuyasha. "Like you, we decided to eavesdrop on the Three Musketeers that interviewed us today." She straightened and flexed her hand. "But you got there first, so we tracked you and figured that you'd come here. We hid in the closet so we could save your sorry butt without being seen. Oh, and we are going to escape the school by roof." Sango stood up and slung her backpack over her shoulder and shrugged. " Just in case you wanted to know. Anyways, let's go. I like the blueberry pies at your house. "

Miroku picked up his backpack as well and grinned. "I like the maids at your house."

Inuyasha sighed as he followed Miroku and Sango out the door.

--

As the friends arrived at Inuyasha's mansion, the saw a shiny Porsche parked in the front door. Inuyasha raised his eyebrows.

"I have a bad feeling about this," he muttered, and the three walked up to the mansion.

In front of the door was a short squat man with a yellow eyes and a slightly greenish face. He bowed stiffly to Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku. This was Jaken, one of the Takahashi's two butlers.

Miroku patted his head. "Nice to see you again, buddy!" he said cheerfully.

Jaken looked disgruntled, and he seemed to be resisting the urge to dust off the place where Miroku had patted him.

"You know who is in the living room. You should do your best not to disturb him." It was obvious that Jaken respected the unknown man in the living room.

The three friends glanced at each other.

Sitting on a velvet couch was a handsome man with long silver hair that was tied in a ponytail very similar to Inuyasha's. Three strange red lines adorned his ivory-colored face, and strange glasses were perched on his nose. Although the man had some same features as Inuyasha, he had an entirely different demeanor; his aura commanded immediate obedience.

"Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha acknowledged, handing his backpack to a maid.

Sesshoumaru's eyes did not leave the sheets of paper he was reading. "We have a new guest today, Inuyasha; do not bother her or even attempt to go near the guest's room, or I will pull out your eye sockets and feed your intestines to Father's piranhas," he said coldly, not even glancing up.

"She must be really cute, then," Miroku piped up. At this, Sesshoumaru's eyes slowly raised to meet Miroku's.

Miroku shivered.

"Never mind," he squeaked.

"Who are you?"

"Uh, I'm Inuyasha's friend; you should know me. I mean, I've been here at least twice a week for about 10 years, Sesshoumaru," Miroku said. Sesshoumaru stayed expressionless, and Miroku continued with a small sigh. "This girl is Sango. Her dad is Mr. Takahashi's good friend and business partner. You know, the company that produces electronics?"

Sesshoumaru ordered a mug of coffee, which Jaken scurried to get, and then went back to his reading, ignoring the three completely.

"Sheesh," Inuyasha muttered as he went upstairs.

The threesome entered Inuyasha's room, which was very large and furnished comfortably.

As he plopped down into a beanbag, Miroku sighed. "Your brother hasn't even noticed me all the time?" he wailed mournfully. "I've known him for years." Inuyasha and Sango sniggered.

"So much for 'understanding friends." Miroku muttered. He sighed and said, "Let's just start with our homework."

The friends were quiet as they scanned their books, and there was a short silence. Then:

"Anyone wanna play Truth or Dare?"

Immediately, Sango and Inuyasha put their books down.

"Ladies first," Sango said, and she rubbed her hands gleefully as if she had already planned what to say beforehand. "I propose a double dare—a triple dare, even." She smiled evilly. "I dare you two to go into Sesshoumaru's room and sneak out a pair of nail clippers for me," she said. "I'll tag along and wait at the door."

"No way!" Inuyasha yelled. "If I do that, it won't be only a matter of ripped-out eye sockets and feed intestines. He'll kill me _slowly_, part by part."

Sango grinned. "Too chicken? I bet you don't even know what his room looks like," she teased, knowing that Inuyasha would take the bait; he was pretty short-tempered.

"I know what his room looks like," Inuyasha grumbled. "I've been there before, when I was six." Sango laughed, and Inuyasha stood up. "Fine, I'll go! But Miroku _has_ to go with me," he said.

"I'll go," Miroku said. "I've never seen Sesshoumaru's room before. Besides, what can he do to me?"

"Many things," Inuyasha muttered, and the three sauntered off to the far side of the hall.

Sesshoumaru's room was not locked—it must've been because he was just downstairs—so the three quietly slipped in. The room was huge, but most of the space was used as a study. There was a small bed in a corner, but the rest of the room was full of bookshelves, and there was a desk amidst the many shelves.

The three tiptoed to the desk, which had a phone, a lamp, and a few files on it. The phone was the kind that could dial a number automatically; Inuyasha looked at the captions on the phone, and saw 'Company', 'Kouga's group' (huh?), etc. Sango and Miroku, however, were already rummaging through the drawers.

The insides of the drawers were organized as well; stationary was put neatly into small labeled groups, and the miscellaneous objects were put on the side. Miroku and Sango both oohed and ahed at the pens with diamonds and rubies embedded in the back of them, marveling at such display of wealth. Inuyasha opened drawers quietly, looking for nail clippers. Upon stumbling a locked drawer, Inuyasha straightened a paper clip and stuck it in the keyhole.

There was a small 'click', and the drawer opened. Curiously, Inuyasha reached in and took out some pieces of papers that were neatly put together.

_Name: Higurashi Kagome_

_Age: 15_

_Date of Birth: ... _

_Current description: Dark brown hair longer than shoulders, brown eyes, 1.64 meters tall, slightly pointed nose (although it must be remembered that Higurashi Kagome's appearance is always changing). _

Inuyasha frowned as he read this, but he still ushered his friends to come and look at the files. "Why does Sesshoumaru have Kagome's files?" he whispered as he scanned the papers.

_Schools attended: Findley Maples Elementary (kindergarten), Harvard Medical, Oxford, xxx..._

Inuyasha and his friends gaped. "Harvard Med.?" Miroku stuttered. "Are you kidding me?" Quickly, the friends flipped the page, eager for more information.

_The Duzun Organization, as mentioned earlier, is an organization that used to be in league with the government, and used to be a branch of the FBI and CIA. However, soon it became a single, individual organization, hiring many capable and dangerous men and women to commit actions of questionable legality that the government must but cannot do. _

"What does this have to do with anything?" Sango frowned. "Must be a big typo or something. And you'd think that Sesshoumaru would have his papers organized better." Uninterested, she turned away to play with the pens in Sesshoumaru's other drawer. Miroku followed, but Sango ushered him to find the nail clippers, and he turned away, fumbling through other drawers.

As Inuyasha continued to read, he started to have a heavy feeling in his gut.

_The Duzun usually never hires minors, as it is highly disapproved of, and minors are usually not capable of doing dangerous jobs right. However, sometimes the Duzun secretly raises young agents, training them as they grow old. Usually the agents have to be geni—_

"What are you doing in my room?" a cold voice said

The three gulped and turned around.

Standing in the doorway was Sesshoumaru, his eyes narrowed and very, very dangerous-looking. There was an obvious drop in the temperature, and Sesshoumaru's look was so icy that the three friends all shivered subconsciously.

"Um, nail clippers?" Miroku squeaked in a barely audible voice, holding up the finally found nail clippers.

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed to slits. "Out. Now," he said coldly, not even pointing out the door. He didn't need to, for the three friends were gone in an instant, keen to get away from Sesshoumaru.

As Inuyasha left the room, he looked back. Sesshoumaru pushed an automatic dial-button on his telephone, and was now scanning Kagome's files quickly, seeing if any papers were missing.

--

Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku dashed downstairs as fast as they could, trying to get as far away from Sesshoumaru as they could. When they were all huddled in the large guest's bathroom, and made sure that Sesshoumaru couldn't get in, they sighed in relief.

"We got the nail clippers," Miroku said, tiredly, yet triumphantly holding up the said nail clippers, which were new and shiny in their plastic wrap. Sango sighed exasperatedly and put the application on the sink, and then looked at Inuyasha in worry.

"Are...you alright?" she asked, not failing to forget that it was she who mentioned the dare.

Inuyasha was not paying attention. "Sesshoumaru's gonna kill me," he whispered hoarsely, clutching at his hair in desperation. He turned to face his friends. "I need to hide at one of your houses."

At this, both Sango and Miroku backed away from Inuyasha.

"I'm a girl," Sango said quickly. "Stay at Miroku's house."

"I-I..." Miroku said, not able to think of a better excuse than Sango's. "I don't want you in my house," he finally said. "Your scary brother seems to have his ways; he could sneak into my house and kill me for hiding you."

Inuyasha groaned. "I am really in for it now," he said, then started shouting at Sango and Miroku. "You two got me into this mess! Just go away for now or I'll be forced to sock you two in the face." Without even complaining, the two friends left hurriedly.

Inuyasha stepped out of the bathroom along with his friends and plopped on the couch while Sango and Miroku went upstairs to get their bags. Seeing the article that Sesshoumaru was just reading, Inuyasha jumped and backed away. Frightening images of Jaken delivering his own head to Sesshoumaru on a golden platter entered his brain. Without thinking, Inuyasha headed towards the guest room, all of a sudden forgetting that he wasn't supposed to go there. After all, the empty guest room downstairs had once been his old hangout place when he was young.

Opening the door silently, Inuyasha looked around. The room was same as usual; it was designed by this famous designer-guy, and had an old Victorian feeling, so Inuyasha always felt comfortable when he was in the guest room. Besides that, there weren't many guests allowed in the Takahashi mansion, so the room still smelt nice and clean.

However, this time, a girl was sitting on the bed, her suitcase next to her. She turned around quickly as she heard the door open, but it was too late. Inuyasha had seen her.

"K-K-Kagome?" Inuyasha gaped in complete and utter surprise. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Kagome turned when she heard Inuyasha's voice. She, too, was very surprised; her eyes were wide open, and the comb in her hand dropped.

"Oh my god," Kagome suddenly said, standing up in panic, "You aren't supposed to be here!" She ran to Inuyasha and scrutinized him hurriedly. "How did you get here?" she asked, moving in small jerks as if she wanted to do something but couldn't make up her mind. "The owner of this house will be very, _very _mad if he finds that you're trespassing his territory... you don't know him, you have no idea what he's capable of," Now she seemed to be talking more to herself than to Inuyasha. "I have to hide you somewhere!"

"Kagome, chill. I'm not trespassing this place," Inuyasha said, confused but still a little amused by Kagome's words.

The girl stopped. "You mean you're a manservant in this house? New butler? Chef?" she asked uncertainly.

"Uh, not really," Inuyasha replied wryly.

Kagome was now obviously confused. "Then... what's your relationship with Sesshoumaru?" she asked.

"I'm his brother, unfortunately," Inuyasha said, and Kagome looked even more surprised. "I'm already in mortal danger for just snooping around in his room with Sango and Miroku," he added regretfully, and Kagome's mouth dropped slightly open, in a very un-Kagome-like fashion.

"You must be either very brave, very stupid, or maybe even suicidal," she said in awe. "Why did you even attempt to go in there?"

"Um, a dare for nail clippers," Inuyasha said, flinching at the stupidity of the sentence. Kagome shook her head in exasperation while reaching for a drink, and Inuyasha sighed.

"Also, Kagome," Inuyasha hesitated. "I saw your files in Sesshoumaru's locked drawer."

Kagome spit out her water, and it came out in a mist-like spray, drenching Inuyasha's face. "You did what?!" she said, her voice high and almost a shriek. "It was locked, Inuyasha, _locked_! Does a man like Sesshoumaru put his nail clippers in a _locked_ drawer?" Properly chastised and sort of annoyed because of the Kagome-spit on him, Inuyasha looked at the floor as Kagome continued to lecture him.

Stopping very suddenly, Kagome put her drink down. "Tell me, Inuyasha. What did you read in there?" she said quietly. "What did you see?"

Inuyasha looked up, and his eyes were amazingly calm. "Enough," he said. "Enough for me to piece the puzzle together."

Kagome and Inuyasha were silent, looking at each other unblinkingly, both with incredible tranquility in their eyes.

The door opened. "Higurashi, we need to—"

Inuyasha froze as he felt an extremely menacing and familiar prescence behind him.

He turned.

Sesshoumaru was standing in the doorway, a murderous look on his face.

"Inuyasha. _What_ are you doing here?"

* * *

**A/N: **BWAHAHAHA! I just love cliffies... I was _almost_ going to end the chapter at the 'Enough for me to piece the puzzle together' part, cuz it was a perfect ending, but I decided not to.

If you guys give me more reviews I might write an extra long chappie, hint-hint... So anyways, I was traveling with my wonderful family, so I couldn't download. Sorry about that.

So R&R!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Oh. My. Goodness. I checked the new Reader Traffic thing, and saw that although there are more than 100 people reading this, there are only 24 reviews! What the HECK!

...Once you have read this page, you cannot leave without a review! -bulgy eyes- ...I wish. According to 'fanfiction's rules, you guys can do whatever you want... Sigh. No matter. Soon, I shall conquer the world, and you will _allllll_ leave reviews when you read!!

Spazzing.

Don't mind the lunatic writing this thing.

Anyways, I am really sorry that I couldn't update sooner; I lost the internet for a while.

* * *

The door opened. "Higurashi, we need to—"

Inuyasha froze as he felt an extremely menacing and familiar prescence behind him.

He turned.

Sesshoumaru was standing in the doorway, a murderous look on his face.

"Inuyasha. What are you doing here?"

"I, uh, K-Kagome, well," Inuyasha stammered as Sesshoumaru waited impatiently. Finally, he summoned up all his courage and said, "I already know enough information. I know about the Duzun organization and Kagome; what are you going to do about it?"

Kagome paled visibly, shaking her head from behind Sesshoumaru.

"Stop moving, Higurashi," he said, and Kagome stopped abruptly. Sesshoumaru looked at Inuyasha, a cold glint in his eye now. "There are rules, and those who do not follow the rules must face the consequences. In fact," If Sesshoumaru was uncomfortable, he didn't show it. "It is stated that the non-agents who know about the organization must be either disabled or disposed of."

"What?" Inuyasha's voice was a squeak. "That means..."

"Yes, your two friends are being questioned in electric chairs this very instant," Sesshoumaru replied. "Kouga, leader of the Affliction Group, will bring them over here in a while."

Just then, the door was slammed open, and a familiar looking man came in.

"Boy genius?" Inuyasha squawked. Kouga looked at him strangely, but then smirked, showing pointy canine teeth.

"So what do the two know?" Sesshoumaru asked impatiently, moving over to a sofa and rubbing his temple. Kouga inclined his head, and moved aside to show Miroku and Sango, who were tied up together and, of course, unconscious.

"Ah, well the boy knows about the organization; he read a bit about it before going away to find," Kouga made a noise that seemed like a cross between a snort and a cough, obviously trying to hide his laughter. "_nail clippers_, and the girl also glimpsed the name of the organization." Then Kouga got serious. "We will need to either put them in the dungeon on that little island near Africa or cut off their tongues and amputate their hands."

"Is that really necessary?" Inuyasha croaked.

"Yes; we wouldn't want them to tell anyone or write everything down either." Kouga paused for a while, so Inuyasha could let this sink through. "No evidence is allowed to remain."

Inuyasha turned white as he realized that Kouga was actually serious. "I thought you were with the government?"

Kouga looked at Inuyasha strangely. "Although we were originally formed so that we could do the government's dirty work, that is, things they can't do in public, we began to start our own businesses that aren't exactly… law-abiding. That means that this organization has to be a complete secret. We have to make sure that anyone who knows anything must not give any information to other people."

"Then what's my punishment?" Inuyasha asked hoarsely.

Kouga was impassive. "Immediate death, we hang you on the gallows, feed you to sharks, whatever. We just get rid of you." He then rolled his eyes as if it were obvious. "Sorry, buddy, but I don't like you much anyways."

"But I'm Sesshoumaru's brother; Sesshoumaru _has _to be of some importance in your organization."

Kouga shrugged. "Even though your brother's an elite, we abide strictly to the rules. It can't be helped." He took out his gun and started loading it.

Inuyasha was quiet for a while, as if he was trying to digest everything he just heard. "So, when do I die?"

"Right now." Kouga polished the gun and pointed it to Inuyasha's head.

"Good bye."

The bullet went flying.

"Damn!" Kouga yelled as blood came pouring out of his gun arm and his own gun dropped to the floor. "Do you know what you're doing?" He stuffed his fist into his wound and glared at Kagome.

"I'm sorry, boss," Kagome said, expertly whizzing a gun back into its pouch, which was fastened on her belt. "I can't really let you kill Inuyasha; I still owe him. So I have a proposal."

"But—"

Sesshoumaru stood up from the couch and raised a hand to stop Kouga's protests..

"Let's hear it. I hope your proposal will be sufficient enough for us to consider accepting, Agent Higurashi. If not..." He left the threat hanging in the air.

Kagome nodded. "I am going on a mission to get to the Fountain of Youth. Would Inuyasha be spared if he came with me? If he returns, he can enter the organization." Kouga opened his mouth to complain, but thought better of it, as the idea was actually reasonable. After all, the mission was class S. Because Inuyasha had no special skills whatsoever, it was highly unlikely that he would return. However, if he did return, he would've proven himself worthy enough to enter the organization.

"The people on the floor can join too," Kouga said. "If they want." At this, Kagome kicked Kouga in the shins, shutting him up immediately. She glared at him.

"Are you trying to get Sango and Miroku _killed_?" she hissed.

But it was too late; Sesshoumaru nodded thoughtfully.

"_To truly defeat an enemy, you make him your ally._ The quote applies to this situation completely." Kouga declared, trying to win back Kagome's forgiveness. "Sort of."

Kagome rolled her eyes, but still waited patiently for Sesshoumaru's reply.

"What if you let them escape?" Kouga asked, frowning as he just thought of a problem. "We could have your skin for that."

"You could send a few agents along to supervise me until I get to the Fountain. When we get there, you could just let the agents go," Kagome said. Seeing her boss's unconvinced face, she sighed loudly. "Fine then. I suppose you could plant bombs in us and take them out later on."

"Well," Kouga argued, "What if you take the bombs out?"

"I heard we have a nanotechnology center. Maybe you could put the bombs in our bloodstream. You would control the trigger, and destroy it if we complete the mission and come back alive," Kagome said promptly.

Kagome crossed her arms and waited as both Kouga and Sesshoumaru pondered her reply.

Finally, after a few seconds, Sesshoumaru gave a slight nod of his head, and Kagome heaved a mental sigh of relief, all the while keeping a calm, blank face.

"I will tell you the names of the agents sent to go with you," Sesshoumaru said as he turned to leave the room. "But before I get back, tell the..." Sesshoumaru looked disdainfully at Miroku and Sango, who were still laying on the floor, bound and gagged, "convicts about this."

Kagome nodded. "When do we go?"

"Tommorow night," Sesshoumaru said, not even bothering to close the door as he left.

Immediately, Kagome and Inuyasha got to work, untying their friends, Kagome expertly and obviously practiced, Inuyasha untying the knots in the rope rather awkwardly. And by the time the friends had been unbound, they had all woken up.

"Where am I?" Sango muttered as she yawned while stretching her arms. Miroku, who was probably faking his sleep, lunged to hug Sango, but grasped only air, as Kagome had moved Sango protectively away from Miroku's clutches.

"So, I guess you've already heard the conversation, huh?" Inuyasha said to Miroku. Inuyasha's friend looked at him warily.

"I can't say I haven't. I mean, I'm not surprised in the least that Kagome is actually some super-spy, but I didn't think that we'd be disabled just because we saw some information," Miroku said. "I guess I have to go, though." He smiled dryly. "I would rather get shot by creepy wolf-face over there than get my tongue and hands cut off. If I did, how would I ever hug Sango again?"

_You wouldn't be able to hug Sango if you were dead, either._ Kagome thought.

However, she was distracted when Kouga immediately jumped in front of Miroku. "Who did you call creepy wolf-face?" he growled. Miroku shrugged and said something along the lines of, "It's not my fault you have sharp teeth,"

As the boys got into a spirited debate of whether or not Kouga looked like a wolf (which was actually more like calling each other undignified names) Sango rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"I faintly remember having a weird dream about being questioned in an electric chair about the documents about you in Sesshoumaru's drawer," she frowned at Kagome. "But then again, I'm probably in another dream, as I am in Inuyasha's guest room, which Sesshoumaru told us not to go in, and you're here, Kagome."

Kagome shook her head. "Unfortunately, that wasn't a dream. And you _are _in Inuyasha's guest room with me, Inuyasha, Miroku, and my boss, Kouga, who you know as Mr. Ikeda." Kagome then started explaining the situation to Sango, who was silent until she heard that she was either going to be disabled or put in jail.

"What the heck," she said disapprovingly, "Who are they to do that to us?"

"I'm sorry, but you seem to fail to understand your situation right now." Kouga snapped. "We are a very powerful underground organization, and we can do whatever we want to an outsider if he/she learns out us. In other words, you lives are in our hands."

Kagome pushed Kouga away and explained the rest to Sango. "Of course, if you don't want to waste your life, you're free to stay here," she added hurriedly. "I'd suggest you forget all about this; you only get to live once."

Sango looked at Kagome incredulously. "Are you kidding? It'd be so cool to try to find the fountain of youth, or be an agent; I get to travel a lot then, right?"

"This isn't just about having fun! You are in danger once you accept this mission! Your life could be lost any moment!" Kagome yelled, frusturated. "You seem to be under the impression that this is just a game, that there is no way you could die. If we don't come back with your bloody, mangled corpses, we'll at least come back with a few limbs or legs lost. Just think about it!"

After Kagome's outburst, everyone in the room grew quiet.

Sango and Miroku frowned, and whispered to each other, discussing whether they would go or not.

"Oh, and to answer your question, there's a lot of traveling in this job," Kouga suddenly butted in. "Italy, Paris, China, you name it." Kagome shot a glare at her boss in a very un-subordinate-like way.

"You stay OUT of this, Kouga," she muttered darkly, but the damage had been done.

Sango and Miroku's faces lit up, and they went back to their muted conversation, talking in hurried whispers.

After a while, Sango and Miroku finished their discussing and turned to face Kagome.

"We've decided," Sango said somberly. "This is a chance in a lifetime. There is no way I, I mean, we, can let this go without regretting it our whole lives. So, yeah. We're going."

Kagome groaned, and Sango patted her apolegetically.

Just then, there was a ring of the doorbell, and Inuyasha motioned for the people around him to relax. "Jaken or Old man will get it," he yawned, and lay down on the couch as his friends sat on the bed.

"I'm afraid that Mr. Takahashi is not here, Dr. Ohira," the butler said. "It may take a while; please wait in the living room until then; of course, you may also tour the house; I will call Jaken to accompany you if you feel that that is necessary."

"No need, I will tour the house by myself," came the calm voice of Naraku.

Kagome and Inuyasha froze, and through the corner of his eye, Inuyasha could see all the color drain out of Kagome's face. Kouga did not leave his comfortable spot in the corner of the wall, but his eyes glinted in alert.

"Naraku," Kagome said, saying the name in revulsion and...fear, it seemed. She turned to Inuyasha, some strange emotion glistening in here eyes. "Inuyasha, I—" She seemed to be struggling with her words, trying to phrase her intentions in a less offensive or strange way. Apparently she still thought him incapable of protecting, or helping her.

Inuyasha nodded curtly, earning wary looks from his friends, who obviously sensed that something was wrong. "Okay, then," he said while locking the guest room door as casually as he could. "So, let's do role play. We pretend to all be friends, laughing and joking. Kagome will be excused because she wants to, eh, vomit, and Sa—I will accompany her because I must see that nothing is wrong." Sango raised an eyebrow, but Inuyasha had to pay no attention to that; he didn't know if Sango could really hold up the guise. "But don't tell the man outside there. If he comes in. Sango, you talk first; let's start now." It was lame and obvious, but he trusted on the others to get his meaning, and he didn't have enough time to do any explaining. Ignoring Kouga's derisive sneer, he wheeled Kagome to the bathroom on the right, and locked the door firmly.

"Um, well, Kouga," Inuyasha and Kagome could hear Sango say hesitantly, "Tell us about you."

Kouga snorted, and Inuyasha's heart sunk as he realized that Kouga was not intending to help him in any way. "How obvious is this?" he said loudly. "Let me tell all of you something, including that dipwad in the restroom now. Kagome is _my_—"

The door was suddenly forced open, and Naraku stood at the door.

"Hello," he said pleasantly. "My name is Ohira Naraku, and I'm looking for Inuyasha." He smiled and nodded at Kouga, who grunted as a reply. "He's in the restroom, hiding from me, isn't he?" Naraku walked towards the bathroom, ignoring Sango and Miroku's awkward coughs. "Well, that won't work. Because—"

Suddenly, Naraku's arm seemed to have exploded, and the whole room was enveloped in some sort of ash. As the fog cleared, they all looked at Naraku's arm, which was now shining and coated with a strange material—iron or steel—and also spiky and full of strangely violet thorns. Kouga leaped in front of Naraku at once and pointed a revolver at Naraku, blocking his way.

"You wanna get in here? You have to get past me first," he said icily.

Naraku grinned.

--

Back in the restroom, Kagome's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. "Transform," she gasped to Inuyasha, who was now trying to find a decent hiding spot. "He can transform his body parts into razor sharp killing machines." She looked at Inuyasha, but he could see that her beautiful, huge brown eyes seemed to look through him. "I'm done for," she said very, very softly before suddenly breaking her gaze with Inuyasha. Then, almost immediately, the girl started pacing around in circles, clutching her hair in frustration...or was it desperation?

"What can I do?" Inuyasha whispered, stopping Kagome as she started her third round. Her pacing made him dizzy and left him in a troubled, almost aching state; or perhaps his subconscious was just playing tricks on him. Kagome looked up at him mustered a weak smile, and Inuyasha could see the strain in her muscles.

"Nothing, I'm afraid," she said, "If only I could--wait!" Suddenly, a gleam came into her eye.

Inuyasha looked at Kagome suspiciously, for if the circumstances had not been so dire, and if Kagome didn't seem so tired, he would've called her expression 'sly'.

"Do you have an idea?" Inuyasha asked hurriedly, for he could hear Kouga shouting, and now cursing: a bad sign.

"Do you have something I can step on so that I may have access to the ceiling?" Kagome asked back. Inuyasha looked around, and then shook his head. Kagome looked at him strangely, and then sighed.

"I'm sorry," she muttered before kicking Inuyasha hard in the shin. The girl was strong; he could at least give her that, and Inuyasha collapsed to the floor in shock. Taking this chance, Kagome climbed up on Inuyasha's shoulders and instructed him to raise her up, which he did, grudgingly ( "You didn't have to kick me.").

Something seemed to exploded outside, and the sound of Kouga's swearing was louder. "Oh my GOD!" Kagome heard Sango yell, and Kagome took out a small object from her pocket. Shading her face with a free hand, Kagome pressed a butten on the object.

With a whoosing noise, a flare of blue light burst out from the small item, and Inuyasha narrowed his eyes as he recognized the light.

"Laser," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. Kagome glared at Inuyasha, and the boy stopped moving.

Kagome used the pocket-laser and drew a large circle on the ceiling. The blue light cut through the ceiling like a knife through butter, and Kagome smiled as she caught the round circular piece of the ceiling that fell off.

"Lift me higher, Inuyasha," she said, throwing the ceiling part away.

"Mr. Ohira! What the hell is going on?" Miroku's voice was heard yelling from behind the door, but he was suddenly silent, and there was a loud 'thump', as if something, _someone_, had been thrown at a wall.

Kagome reached for the room above, and her hand clenched the floor above in desperation. _If I could only just hoist myself up,_ she thought painfully, and pulled her other hand up to clench the ceiling. Of course, there was one way, but it included a sacrifice; hopefully Inuyasha wouldn't mind, since it was a life-and-death situation. Hopefully.

Kagome looked down at Inuyasha. "Please don't mind me doing this," she said, and stepped on his head, lifting herself up just as Naraku's fist burst out to make a hole in the middle of the door, which was now half-acidified, half smashed.

"Where is Kagome?" Naraku asked Inuyasha as pleasantly as he could, but the slight irritation in Naraku's eyes were obvious now.

"She's not here," Inuyasha said, his eyes darting to the exit. Naraku smiled and shook his head.

"Inuyasha, I don't want to fight you, Naraku said as he searched the small cabinet in the bathroom: the only bit of furnishing there was. "Just surrender already."

"I don't know where Kagome is," Inuyasha tried adding a bit of frustration in his voice: just to make it seem more convincing, though Kouga's fight had obviously told Naraku that Kagome and Inuyasha were hiding in the bathroom.

Naraku's eyes narrowed. "Tell. Me. Where. Kagome. Is," he said in a louder voice, raising his mechanically mutated arm.

"She's not here!" Inuyasha yelled back, and saw Naraku's eyes flit from his face to the large piece of the ceiling on the floor. Naraku's brain processed the information, and he looked up at the ceiling, which now had a huge hole in the middle of it.

Naraku looked at Inuyasha loathingly, even though his killing-machine-arm now devoid of the acid that it just used to bust open the door. Still, a blow of that _thing_ could be fatal.

"You did this, didn't you?" Naraku said quietly, and somehow this seemed much freakier than shouting and swearing. He fixed his cruel, violet stare at Inuyasha, and Inuyasha tried to stare back with coolness and aplomb. "You'll pay dearly," Naraku said again, and in a flash, he was standing next to Inuyasha, his arm rammed into Inuyasha's body.

Inuyasha looked at Naraku, expecting to see immense satisfaction, or disgust, or perhaps even some sick, sadistic joy, but there was nothing except a calm, certain indifference that seemed to make Inuyasha's fatal injury, maybe even death, seem unimportant.

The pain from the huge wound was excruciating. Inuyasha felt as if he was being burned alive at stake. It was too much to bear, and Inuyasha could feel all his energy draining away.

Inuyasha collapsed to the floor, blood soaking his whole body, just before he could see that Miroku, Sango, and Kouga were all in a small corner of the room, not badly injured but still unconscious. It seemed unfair that Inuyasha was singled out to be the only one who was going to die in pain and agony. He was going to be killed by Kouga before anyways, so why would Fate be toying with him by making him die just twenty minutes after his escape from death?

"Oh, but just death with pain and agony is not enough," Naraku's voice was soft, even though he had kneeled down and was talking right into Inuyasha's ear. "After I heal you, we can start this all over again, and maybe even talk about your mother, hmm?"

Inuyasha would've looked at Naraku in horror, but he couldn't, since the wound was hurting like hell, and Inuyasha had used up all of the rest of his strength stuffing his fist into his wound, and could now barely move his head.

"N-no," was all he could manage, and even that he said with a slow, hoarse voice, like a sick or dying man. But he couldn't help it; the fear was gnawing at him, eating him from within, and although he knew that Naraku fed on that stuff, he just couldn't stop thinking about his future with the man.

"Oh, but we'll talk about that later," Naraku said, dragging Inuyasha out of the bathroom. "First I have to redevelop your broken body parts with my regeneration pills, so you won't die so soon. It really is bothersome, not to mention rather expensive, to torment my prisoners, and sometimes I question myself why I even do it."

Inuyasha groaned.

"Yes, Mr. Takahashi. No one is butting in here, even though I caused such a ruckus, because I already arranged it so that they would all leave for some certain...reasons," Naraku added helpfully, and he allowed himself a small smile.

"Now, now, Inuyasha. I'm sure we'll have lots of fun together." And with that, he rammed his arm into Inuyasha's stomach again, although with less ferocity. Even so, Inuyasha felt the same searing pain.

Of course, it was then when he remembered something that may have been of some importance.

The room above the guestroom bathroom was Sesshoumaru's.

And, as Inuyasha's vision blurred, Sesshoumaru arrived, slamming open the locked door. Naraku spun around in shock, his eyes wide with alarm.

"Naraku." Sesshoumaru spat the word out with an irreverent disgust that Inuyasha (and all the other people that knew Sesshoumaru) would've been astonished to hear in the usually emotionless man.

But Inuyasha didn't think that much of it as his world spinned and he fell limply to the floor, finally unconcious.

* * *

**A/N: **Just to tell you guys, 'Damn' is just informal; _vulgar slang_ is what you have to look out for. And of course I'm not adding that. For younger audiences, just in case there is a younger audience. I mean, teens should be fine, but...

Also, Sesshoumaru was there because although he had been lured out of the house because of a false alarm, he tracked down Kagome and brought her back. And Naraku didn't plan that. Haha.

Oh, and I am also sorry that Inuyasha and Kagome living together didn't turn out the way you guys wanted; I thought about the nice, peaceful way (full of arguments) of them living together, but then I changed my mind.

..R&R!


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